Mining Engineering

Modern Mining Expertise

At a glance:

The University of Nevada, Reno is home to the Mackay Muckers a national award-winning mining club comprised of a diverse group of mining and engineering students

The Department of Mining Engineering at University of Nevada, offers a Bachelor of Science degree in Mining Engineering. The program includes courses in mine design, mining technology, mineral processing, computer applications for operations control and management, environmental concerns, industrial safety and health, and mineral economics. Department Website

The curriculum is arranged to provide students with a broad background for a career as a modern mining engineer providing high tech solutions to the problems of supplying society with the raw materials required in the 21st Century in an environmentally responsible manner. Graduates are prepared for industrial employment or further advanced study.

Because of the relatively small number of students in the program, mining engineering classes are small, which enables students to receive personal attention from the professor teaching the course.

It also creates a friendly department where everyone is known and students get a sense of belonging. Organizations such as the John Mackay Club, the student chapter of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, as well as the student chapter for the National Sand, Stone and Gravel Association, create a high degree of camaraderie among students at all levels through extracurricular activities which include field trips, trips to national conventions, student design competitions and the annual International Collegiate Mining Competition. Participation in these professional activities gives students opportunities to meet and network with peers and industry professionals from around the world.

The Mackay Miners

The University of Nevada, Reno is home to the nationally known, competitive mining team, the Mackay Miners.

The department maintains a close liaison with the mineral industry. Field trips for students are arranged during the academic year and an extensive summer field trip to mining operations outside of the state is required for graduation.

Further, students are required to work in the minerals industry during at least one summer vacation and most students spend more than one summer working at mines or in engineering offices. Faculty in the department take an active role in finding these summer job opportunities for our students.

The B.S. Mining Engineering degree program is fully accredited and offers a variety of rigorous and interesting courses. The goal of the program is to train students qualified to perform the various functions typically exercised by mining engineers: plan, design, operate, and close mines. Engineering topics are selected to meet this goal. Introduction to mine planning, design, operations and closure occurs in the mining methods courses; introduction to detailed mine design is in underground and surface mine design courses; engineering sciences underlying the mine planning, design, operation and closure requirements are studied in several basic areas, including thermodynamics, electrical circuits, hydraulics, strength of materials, etc.; and the design experience is capped in the senior capstone design course: a mine feasibility study.

There are three Areas of Emphasis available to students in the Mining Engineering Degree Program:

General Option, which is patterned on the traditional broad based mining engineering program that prepares students for a wide variety of areas in the mining industry;

Quarry Option, which focuses on the issues specific to the Construction Aggregates and Quarry sectors of the mining industry;

Mineral Processing / Extractive Metallurgy Option, which focuses on the processing of minerals into salable commodities such as metals or chemical compounds.